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Singapore court jails two men for Internet music piracy: report

Two men were jailed in Singapore for illegally sharing hundreds of music files over the Internet, local media reported Saturday.

Mohamad Azry Zainol, 22, and Mohd Faizal Osman, 21, were sentenced to four and three months in jail respectively after they pleaded guilty to charges of distributing copyrighted songs by uploading them to an Internet chat forum, The Straits Times newspaper said.

They could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to 100,000 Singapore dollars (US$61,230; euro51,280) per song.

The pair were arrested last August after a tip-off by the Recording Industry Association of Singapore, which represents some of the largest recording companies, such as Sony BMG, Warner and Universal Music.

A 16-year-old student was also arrested, but the newspaper said he was freed with a warning because of his age and good school record.

Court officials could not be reached Saturday to confirm the report.

Singapore, a wealthy Southeast Asian city-state of 4.2 million, is among the most wired countries in the world, with around eight in 10 households owning personal computers.